Tag: bohemen

Another two weeks and the 2019 Formula 1 season will start with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on the 17th of March.

I have a lifetime fascination with Formula 1 and from my 17th until this day i am following the complete Formula 1 season. Qualifying and the Race itself i am present and dollow the live transmission. It is rare, but sometimes both items i admire , Art and racing, are combined into sculpture or paintings. One of the artists that comes to mind is Kees van BOhemen who made a series on Racing and racing drivers in the late Sixties.

Furthermore there are of course the car manufactureres themselves who commission artist to develop and paint their cars into special editions. But Kees van BOhemen stands out for me since his use of paint and subjects leans towards total abstractiuon and it is only a small step to make a “racing” painting into an abstract painting. www.ftn-books.com has a nice selection of Kees van Boehemen catalogues available.

What about these glasses!….it is the first thing you see when you look at this portrait of Willem Hussem, a dutch painter from the Hague who formed together with Nanninga , Roede and Bohemen the core of the “Posthoorngroep”. The met weekly in the famous cafe de Posthoorn where they discussed art and everything else, but most of all inspired each other to some of the greatest art found in the Netherlands in those days, Among them Willem Hussem was perhaps the most diverse ( painting , sculpture and poetry), but certainly one of the most outspoken member of the group. Willem Hussem his works are spread all over the Netherlands in Museums ( Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, Stedelijk Museum, Dordrechts museum) and many private collections. If you are searching to add a beautiful Hussem to your collection, let me know because i know of the whereabouts of some excellent paintings that are for sale by this great artist and of course www.ftn-books.com has some nice publications available.

A 100% percent Cobra artist who has almost been forgotten by the public is Lotti van der Gaag. She began with sculpture on advise of Bram Bogart with who she was living in the late 40’s. In 1950 she moved to Paris where she met Karel Appel and Corneille with whom she stayed befriended during her entire life although Corneille had his objections of her joining the COBRA group. In 1974 she started with painting using the same fantasy figures she already had developed in her sculpture. When you look at these early paintings you can only draw one conclusion….Lotti van der Gaag is a Cobra artist!

What i did not know is that she was married to Kees van Bohemen , who has made a name for his abstract expressionist paintings in dutch art. www.ftn-books has a few Lotti van der Gaag publications.